Sanders slams Trump's Venezuela strike after years of soft rhetoric on socialist strongmen

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., railed against President Donald Trump’s weekend strikes in Venezuela, but his criticism comes after a history of taking a softer approach to socialist dictators like former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Sanders, like several of his colleagues in the Senate Democratic caucus, argued that Trump’s decision to strike Venezuela’s capital Caracas without congressional approval broke the law and was another instance of the administration leapfrogging Congress’ war powers.

"Donald Trump has, once again, shown his contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law," Sanders said in a statement. "The President of the United States does NOT have the right to unilaterally take this country to war, even against a corrupt and brutal dictator like Maduro."

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But the lawmaker’s decision to call Maduro a dictator is a shift. In previous years, Sanders has declined to place that label on him.

When Sanders was on the presidential campaign trail in 2019, he opted not to call Maduro a dictator, instead saying he would support an effort to ensure free and fair elections in the country.

"I think it’s fair to say that the last election was undemocratic, but there are still Democratic operations taking place in that country," Sanders said during a town hall at the time. "The point is, what I’m calling for right now is an internationally supervised fair election."

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Maduro, who was first elected in 2013, is accused of human rights abuses and working with cartels and narco gangs in South America and Mexico to distribute illicit drugs into the U.S.

However, Sanders has often accused Trump of engaging in authoritarianism.

"Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country," Sanders said on X in 2020. "As long as I am here, I will work with progressives, with moderates, and, yes, with conservatives to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat."

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The lawmaker has also been supportive of policies under former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. During his last presidential run, Sanders came under fire after a speech he made in the 1980s when he lauded the socialist policies installed by Castro and his regime.

Sanders was pressed on the speech during another town hall event on the campaign trail, where he noted that he had been consistently critical of authoritarian regimes across the globe.

Still, he contended that "there were a lot of folks in Cuba at that point who were illiterate. He formed the literacy brigade."

"You know what, I think teaching people to read and write is a good thing," Sanders said.

Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back from Sanders' office for comment.